


A Single Pale Regret

by Zaya_Ayame



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, More shorts in the future maybe, Oh boy are there tears, Romance, Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond Theory, Sad and Happy, Short One Shot, Tears, Which is not a theory anymore lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:52:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zaya_Ayame/pseuds/Zaya_Ayame
Summary: Pearl, moments after ‘shattering’ Pink Diamond, is on the run. A loyal Jasper is in pursuit before they can be free... Is everything okay now?





	A Single Pale Regret

**Author's Note:**

> A small start to a collection of shorts I want to do based on incredible art scenes on Tumblr! This one is based off of Missbearisisland's image set for 'A Single Pale Rose', featured here: http://missbearisland.tumblr.com/post/173906074314/now-its-just-rose
> 
> Go check her stuff out, it's really amazing! Please enjoy~

It was early in morning, hours before daylight and darkest before the dawn would arrive. The palanquin was the brightest color among the lofty hillside where she and her Diamond had once stood together. Inside, they have collaborated one last-ditch effort to turn the tides of the war and make the planet Earth a territory free from the control of the Authority. She had offered one last out for them – a moment of solidarity before the decision was made with no return…  
  
She had given in, of course – such was the fate of a Pearl and her Diamond – but she knew… knew that Pink had listened to her, in the end. She wanted a life with her Diamond; no, with Rose for so long and she was certain her feelings were requited.  
  
Pink’s status…  
  
Her purpose…  
  
In a matter of moments, so fast and unrelenting as their plan dictated, she held a formless Diamond within her hand – shaped in the very image of the gem she would spend the rest of her existence with. Within her larger-than-usual hand, the Mazarin shaped gem pressed firmly into her palm and, like being struck by lightning, Pearl had realized -  
  
\- She needed to run.  
  
Gone was the valiant and fearless leader of the Crystal Gems, overtaken by abject horror as the realization of what she’d just done suddenly had her stare at Pink’s gem in shock. A cascade of tears, the final farewell to her Diamond and what they had together, was all that was left before it crashed around her, shattering the façade she’d crafted, and she could only find the will to move once another cry of anguish broke through the air.  
  
They were close! Had they seen?  
  
She bounded from the hillside, admonishing herself for losing herself to emotions, in a mimicry of Pink’s own levitation ability. _No_ , Pearl reminded herself needlessly, _It’s Rose. She is Rose. Not Pink._ How many thousands of years would it take to forget the memory of Pink and only create new ones of Rose?  
  
By some luck of poetic irony, the sky above – dark and forbidding as it was – opened to downpour a torrent of rain. _How appropriate_ , Pearl mused as her own tears mixed with the salt of the rain. Without realizing it, her mind had put together a path for her legs to follow; Keeping her footfalls to the growing puddles of water to prevent traceable tracks. Always calculating. Always one step ahead of even her Diamond.  
  
A testament to her creator…  
  
Pearl, under guise as Rose Quartz, had nearly evacuated the area when a sudden war cry had taken her off guard followed by a near miss from a very startling soldier. In mid-leap along a vacant strip of field, Pearl dropped into the tall lengths of wheat – scarcely hidden due to their sheer size. Across the vegetation, she watched as an angrily heaving soldier – a Jasper by the looks of her pale hair and distinct markings – leveled with her.  
  
To Jasper’s own enraged expression, grief hidden by the downpour of rain, Pearl as Rose Quartz could only mirror a terrified visage. Unbeknownst the Pearl, the lack of resolve on her face only further enraged the Quartz. “You…” She snarled in Pearl’s direction. “How… How could you- Your-! Our-!” She could hear the crack in the Jasper’s voice, struggling to pin the blame, the guilt and the justice upon her. “-You shattered her!” She bellowed, throwing her body into a flail as she flung her fists wildly at her sides.  
  
If there was ever a response Pearl had to give, be it that it had to be this way or some other justification, it died before it ever reached her lips due to the gag order Pink had bestowed upon her.  
  
Before Pearl even realized what she was doing, the sword was unsheathed, and her eyes took on a terrifying expression. _No_ , She promised herself with what little resolve she could scrape from her courage. _I’m not Pearl right now. I can be… Her._  
  
And for a moment, Pearl was grateful for the order.  
  
“Yes,” She declared, her back straightening as the Jasper before her seemed to fall further into disbelief. “I did. I shattered her to be free.” The words marched from her mouth as if they were her own, tricked by her desire to not be herself for a moment. Visibly, she gripped her sword as if she were ready to clash with the Quartz.  
  
She wasn’t… but she didn’t have to know that.  
  
Jasper, meanwhile, looked on in with her resolve crumbling as the leader of the Crystal Gems confirmed her crime. _No_ , Jasper denied. _It has to be a lie!_ She reminded herself. Diamonds couldn’t be shattered! It had to be a trick; some tactic concocted by the traitor to throw her troops into disarray. It worked on them but NO – it would NOT work on her!  
  
In a flash of light, she summoned her weapon from her gem and held it high with a cry borne of strife, “NGGHHHAA!”  
  
Pearl, emboldened by the courage Rose gave her, moved without thought or hesitation – slicing clear through Jasper’s form with a speed unnatural to her supposed caste. As she passed by Jasper’s form, however, she would realize with a jolt that the familiar sound of a gem dissipating their form was absent.  
  
She whirled around and raised her sword, only for a powerful form to fall upon her – and all at once her bravado and resolve melted into a fear that only a Pearl could have. Pinned and staring into the crazed eyes of a soldier that lost their Diamond, Pearl could only hold her sword aloft – barely keeping Jasper from cleaving her form in two.  
  
Unseen by both, one out of sight and the other out of mind, the form of Jasper would glitch violently from the wide cleave in her form. Amazingly, or tragically, Jasper held her form together for the precious seconds she’d hoped to use to avenge Pink Diamond. Every second more torturous as the last as her senses rapidly faded from use in a bid to return to her gem.  
  
Yet, she fought on while yelling obscenities only Gems of her caste could imagine, and Pearl pushed, enduring the entirety of it as her form strained to keep its disguise.  
  
_I can’t…. let her see-! Everything I do… I do FOR HER!_ Arms shaking, Pearl glared into Jasper’s eyes until it seemed as though there was suddenly nothing to push against. Above her, equally staring back with tears streaming down her face… Jasper seemed to suddenly lose all strength of movement. Confused, Pearl didn’t notice the Quartz narrowing her eyes at her before she opened her mouth to say something and-  
  
POOF!  
  
Particulates fell around Pearl, staring up at nothing for a moment, as she struggled to comprehend what had happened just before Jasper destabilized. Something had stopped her, spooked the Quartz into a sudden inaction and Pearl hoped… she pleaded with whatever stars existed in her favor… that it wasn’t a kind of realization that would destroy their hopes of revolution.  
  
She quickly got to her feet, picking up the sheath she had abandoned in the wheat, Pearl rushed away back towards safety with Pink Diamond – No, ROSE, she reminded herself, in hand. She needed to rest. She needed to see… to hope that Rose was okay. She was taking so long to reform!  
  
Against her will, Pearl felt the return of tears as she hid herself away behind a collection of boulders. It wasn’t the best, but it provided a reprieve for just a few moments away from any eyes. With her back to the comforting slate of stone, Pearl took in her surroundings for a tense moments before finally allowing her form to return to her usual lithe frame.  
  
With tears unhindered this time, Pearl stared in horror at the gem she held in her hand. Where before she shed silent tears in grief, Pearl allowed the well of pain to overcome her now in the form of choked sobs and the occasional hiccup. Even as the gem within her hand glowed – preparations completed for Rose to exist forever – Pearl could not find it in her being to remove her hands from her face.  
  
_Why did we do this?!_  
  
_We can’t go back!_  
  
_Was this the right thing to do?!_  
  
Her thoughts rampaged with doubt, even as she felt the warmth of familiar hands. Silently, they were pried away to reveal the most angelic- No, deified visage Pearl could never hope to deserve. Still aglow from being newly reformed, Rose smiled in the only way she could and Pearl it all just… fall away.  
  
“You did it,” Rose would whisper, excitement diminished to a hushed celebration as she wrapped soft arms around her precious Pearl. “We’re free, Pearl…”  
  
As Pearl sobbed tears of joy and Rose whispered soft accolades and encouragement… Pearl would be left to wonder –

–  Were they truly free from the Diamonds?


End file.
